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NASA official described the destruction of one of its satellites by India as "a terrible thing" that created 400 orbital debris and created new dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Jim Bridenstine was speaking to employees five days after India shot down a low-orbit satellite in a missile test to prove it was one of the world's advanced space powers.
Not all the pieces were big enough to be followed, explained Bridenstine. "What we're following right now, objects big enough to be followed – we're talking about 10 centimeters (six inches) or so – about 60 pieces have been tracked."
The Indian satellite was destroyed at a relatively low altitude of 300 km, well below the ISS and most satellites in orbit.
But 24 pieces were above the apogee of the ISS, Bridenstine said. "It's a terrible and terrible thing to create an event that sends debris during a climax that goes beyond the International Space Station," he said, adding, "This type of activity is not compatible with the future of manned spaceflight ".
"This is unacceptable and NASA must be very clear about its impact on us."
The US Army tracks objects in the space to predict the risk of collision for the ISS and for the satellites. They currently follow 23,000 objects over 10 cm.
This includes about 10,000 space debris, of which nearly 3,000 were created by a single event: a Chinese anti-satellite test in 2007, 530 miles above the surface.
Following the Indian test, the risk of collision with the ISS increased by 44% in 10 days, said Bridenstine. But the risk will disappear over time, as much of the debris will burn as they enter the atmosphere.
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